Greenpeace protests against sale of Kishantos organic farm

A group of Greenpeace activists held a protest against the sale of lands formerly leased to the organic farm of Kishantos, in Szekesfehervar, central Hungary, on Tuesday.

Greenpeace said on its website that its activists climbed onto the roof of the building where the auction was taking place and sprayed the words “Land Theft” on it. The activists also hung banners that said “Hands off of Kishantos!” in the window of the auction room.

The activists eventually managed to get into the auction room where they chained themselves to the furniture.

The NGO said the protest was meant to send the message that the government scheme to sell land is dishonest and it would not boost ecological farming. Greenpeace said that although local farmers have the right to attend the land auctions, they are hardly given a fair chance to buy land.

The Fejer County government office said that despite the disturbance by the activists, it successfully auctioned off the nine plots that were on the agenda.

The Fejer County police department told MTI that it launched criminal proceedings against several activists for damaging public property.

Disputes have been ongoing over the land leases in Kishantos since late 2013. In April 2014 the new leaseholders started to plough up the fields at the local farms. The organic farmers of the German-backed Kishantos Rural Development Centre, however, said that the newcomers were not “legally in possession” of the area, as there were several legal disputes over rights to the land still under way.

Photo: facebook.com/Greenpeace.HU

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters